“To ask someone to be your girlfriend could be something as straightforward as a one-line message that reads: ‘I think I like you. Hehe. :)’,” said Yazreen, who is in a dating relationship but does not plan to celebrate Valentine’s Day.

John Ho, 19, said that emoticons could be classified for innocent and intimate uses.

“The normal smileys, formed by a colon and a bracket, are safe to use with normal friends. But some symbols, such as the heart, should be used with caution to avoid misunderstandings,” said the commerce student.

Ho said that youngsters took their heart to cyberspace because they enjoyed the attention from friends.

“Sometimes, we worry whether anyone will click ‘like’ or leave a comment on our Facebook status. But often, we can be careless with what we post online, forgetting that the information can come back to haunt us,” he added.

On Valentine’s Day today, A-levels student Cheong Xin Chi is expecting her friends to take ‘lovey-dovey’ and ‘mushy’ messages to public visibility via social networking sites.

“Most will use emoticons in their notes as they intensify the feelings. It makes a message over the Internet more heartfelt,” said the 18-year-old.

However, Cheong also finds it daunting to have her Facebook page loaded with her friends’ intimate expressions of love.

“The world does not need to read your conversation with your other half,” she said. (ANI)